Le silence des ombres

Adding together the presence of Michael Cooney as the writer who gave us 'Identity', which boasted originality and a fast paced story AND with the addition of Julianne Moore who eats this genre for breakfast, my expectations for this were high. The movie starts off well, 'on the edge'; with Jonathan Rhys Meyer's character being introduced perfectly. Plenty of reason to call it a horror/thriller at this point with excellent use of sound to create the jumpy vibe. However the direction from the Swedish duo Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein soon starts to really let the grip of the film slip. OK admittedly there are plot holes and the pace is slow after the initial quick start which covers a lot of explanatory material for the theory behind the story. But to have taken the obviousness out of that, the direction could have been so much more original and less armature looking, with close ups and set ups for jumps so obvious and dull. The first 30 minutes or so of the film has the horror edge, after that a Sunday paced drama with a frankly ridiculous set of ideas behind Meyers character which are not overly original sets this up to mainly let moviegoers expectations down. Meyer's brilliant acting including his shift in accents and characters and Moore's usual type cast brilliant acting make this watchable and average. This could have been so good and does not fit into the horror/thriller genre well and do it justice. An average supernatural thriller with a couple of jumps at best as horror. What a shame.

Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein's 'Shelter' is very much just another one of those horror movies that classifies itself as a 'supernatural thriller' in order to appear more classy and cool. The direction seems confused and even if the film is well shot, it's nothing outstanding. Clichés and plot holes are abundant in 'Shelter' (which is very much the case with most movies of this genre) and it has a disappointingly typical ending that tries to be haunting. It tries to be tricky by initially giving the impression of being a psychological thriller and then the writer throws in the occult to tell you that it's actually a horror film. Would fans of 'The Ring' like it (as the promos suggest)? Probably. Julianne Moore does a great job. I only watched 'Shelter' because she was in it. Her castmates are okay at best with the exception of Frances Conroy who stands out as a mother who lost three sons. Overall, 'Shelter' is a disappointing film that has absolutely nothing new to offer.

There's some great acting in this movie and that helps most of the way through.

However it gets to a point where the acting isn't enough to make up for the story which stops making sense about 2 thirds in.

The amount of questions left unanswered and the sudden lack of sense coupled with plot holes stops this being a great movie and drops it into mediocrity.

Not recommended as it feels unfinished.

Based on a previous review here suggesting that fans of The Ring would like this I went to see Shelter and I think the previous advice needs more clarification. If you liked The Ring then yes, you'll probably like this. If however you thought The Ring had pointless cut aways and sudden close-ups just to try to build tension or make you jump, then you will be as equally frustrated with this film. Still in the latter group, I would assume that you loved Ringu and therefore you will appreciate the story this film is trying to tell despite the occasional ham-fisted way it goes about presenting it.

Jonathan (male lead) is really quite good, although Julianne comes across far too much as if she has been cast as Dana Scully. In truth this whole film would have been more believable if this had of been the story line for the X Files 2 movie. Knowing that going in will probably help get past the weird opening 30 minutes where it swings from place to place until we settle on the story it is wanting to tell. Despite the plot holes and some questionable decisions by the characters, I did leave the film feeling pleased and positive about the whole experience.

I caught this film on Netflix the other night in the "recommended for me" section. It certainly looked promising: a taut psychological thriller with Julianne Moore as Dr. Cara Harding, a forensic psychologist trying to disprove a diagnosis of multiple personality disorder in mental patient David/Adam/Wesley (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).

But it quickly morphs from the cooly clinical and scientific to hillbilly voodoo and fundie religious hokum replete with a hot, steaming, incomprehensible -- some of it kind of fun in its incoherence -- compost heap of plot elements: the 1918 flu epidemic; skin rashes; chronic coughs yielding -- ughh -- dirt; slip-and-falls; spinal injuries; atheism; Catholicism; faith healers; vaccines; curses; snake venom potions; apparitions on video; and a suddenly discovered -- and quite laughable -- silent film, replete with +90 year old narrator. There's even a test for red-green color blindness.

And, like the antagonist, this film suffers from an identity crisis. Is it a psychological thriller? A slasher / stalker film? A medical mystery? A serial killer whodunnit? A witchcraft / occult movie? I enjoyed just trying to figure out what the producers had in mind. This is like a film made my committee (or someone with multiple personality disorder).

Saving grace: A good faith try at making the crazy script work by Moore. And an enthusiastically evil performance Meyers, though he needs to take an intensive "American accents" workshop. That southern twangy thing was the worst, and so not right for upper Apalachia.

But all-in-all, I actually like really bad, messy movies, especially those that try so hard. Maybe Netflix knows me afterall? Hence the six -- how appropriate -- stars rating.